Though exhausting and riddled with fear, there is power in times of darkness. Humble, broken moments such as these can be necessary in order to make that tiny flicker of natural light visible in a crowded world of unnatural light. When hope is lost and Nights suffocating walls feel as though they're imploding around us, it's that shimmer of light that will direct us, and the darkness that makes an otherwise dim light seem all the more real and clear. Isn't the wandering vessel never more dependent on the distant twinkle of light than when it's in the midst of a night's stormy seas? And so it is as we wander in the darkness looking for direction and guidance; something to give us a course as we seek hope when hopelessness is all that can be felt.
We walk down rocky paths that were once marked by familiarity and the feel of soft, comfortable ground beneath our feet. Never realizing it was this perceived comfort that led to the darkness in the first place. Or was the darkness always there and we finally opened our eyes to the reality of our surroundings? Somehow believing the comfort below our feet was the soft, green pasture we had hoped it was. Only looking down to find it was just the slimy moss of a jagged rock being crashed upon by an endless number of waves by the stormy sea.
And so with eyes open, the journey begins. Seeking that flicker of light that seems so far off in the distance. Stumbling along once familiar paths towards a destination that is not yet known. Following the dim light in a moonless night and believing that light will lead towards greener pastures; not because it is assumed to be comfortable but because that is the place the light has made luscious and new.